friedman@athos.rutgers.edu (Gadi ) (11/17/87)
I keep reading that the Apple II SCSI card is not compatible
with 'standard' SCSI card, and the CMS SCSI card is.
Does anyone know what the problem is?.
I bought the SCSI Technical Reference manual from APDA, but it
doesn't have much usefull info. (No schematics, No ROM listings...).
All it has is a list of system calls. It looks like I'm going to have
to disassemble the ROMS to see what the card does, since I'd like
my drive to Autoboot. The manual does claim that the card is
compatible with all SCSI devices that follow the standard, but I'm
still suspicious. Also I have the Adaptec manual for their SCSI
controller, and it says something about special block sizes used
by Apple. What is that all about??
Gadi
--
Gadi
uucp: {ames, cbosgd, harvard, moss}!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!friedman
arpa: FRIEDMAN@ARAMIS.RUTGERS.EDUmead@hamal.usc.edu (Dick Mead) (12/02/87)
For those who don't know about it, there is a small company, with a tiny little ad in the back of A+ mag. that makes a SCSI controller for the Apple II/II+/IIe/GS. The product is MEGABOARD, from Perlin Electronics in Goleta, CA (805) 968-6089. This card fits in any slot 1-7, but works as if in 7. It will use nearly any ST506 type hard disk of 64Meg or less..1024 cyl max/8 heads max It formats 16 sectors at 256 bytes/sect.. Comes with software to format and config for DOS3.3, Apple Pascal, CP/M, PRODOS and the only "MUST HAVE" is one volume of DOS3.3 for all the utilities. Currently works with Pascal 1.1 and Prodos 1.1.1 or less, and CP/M 54k .. I have not been able to make it work with 44k CP/M or 60k CP/M 2.23, and it won't boot PRODOS 1.2 or higher yet. Oh yes, the price is $195.00 plus shipping and tax...The card runs pretty warm, and due to it's power requirements, has a pig-tail lead from the disk connector end for external +5, which you steal from the disk power supply. You can configure the disk to boot up in any of the installed systems. This might be worth checking out for those folks looking for a hard disk controller for the Apple. Dick <MEAD@HAMAL.USC.EDU>
denbeste@bgsuvax.UUCP (12/03/87)
in article <5481@oberon.USC.EDU>, mead@hamal.usc.edu (Dick Mead) says: > For those who don't know about it, there is a small company, with a tiny > little ad in the back of A+ mag. that makes a SCSI controller for the > Apple II/II+/IIe/GS. The product is MEGABOARD, from Perlin Electronics > in Goleta, CA (805) 968-6089. > This card fits in any slot 1-7, but works as if in 7. It will use nearly There is also a larger company that has a SCSI board available. Apple Computer, Inc. Last time I was at my dealer, I saw this board. I am not sure of the cost or anything neat like that. I heard that at one point apple was having troubles with this board, but that the troubles have been fixed. -bill
gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) (12/04/87)
In article <1411@bgsuvax.UUCP> denbeste@bgsuvax.UUCP (William C. DenBesten) writes: >There is also a larger company that has a SCSI board available. Apple >Computer, Inc. Last time I was at my dealer, I saw this board. I am >not sure of the cost or anything neat like that. I heard that at one >point apple was having troubles with this board, but that the troubles >have been fixed. Yes, there was a ROM upgrade to fix some problem that was trashing disks on Apple IIGSes. Apple decided not to use the standard SCSI connector, also.
rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com (Russel Michel) (10/24/89)
Got a question hopefully somebody out there can answer: Is there a way to write-protect a SCSI device (specifically, a hard disk)? I'd like to make one of the two drives in my daisy-chained setup read-only at times (like when the kids are playing games loaded from the hd and I don't want to take the chance of them trashing my drive. I do regular back-ups, but it's a headache to do a backup before I can let the little rug-rats do their thing. It would make things much simpler if I could just flip a switch or something. Thanks in advance for any replies. UUCP: crash!pro-grouch!rmichel ARPA: crash!pro-grouch!rmichel@nosc.mil INET: rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com
dlyons@Apple.COM (David Lyons) (10/27/89)
In article <8910240059.AA25580@trout.nosc.mil> rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com (Russel Michel) writes: >Got a question hopefully somebody out there can answer: Is there a way to >write-protect a SCSI device (specifically, a hard disk)? I'd like to make one >of the two drives in my daisy-chained setup read-only at times [...] No problem--there's a "write-protect" switch right on the back of the hard disk, only it isn't documented as one. Just take a magic marker and write "write-protect" over the word "off." Well, I suppose you did ask for "read only," though...there is a CDA by Glen Bredon that will write-protect *all* your online devices under ProDOS 8. I believe you have to manually choose the CDA every time you enter P8 to get the write protection turned on, so it probably won't help you keep the kids from messing up your drive. The power swtich solution sounds very practical, though. -- --Dave Lyons, Apple Computer, Inc. | DAL Systems AppleLink--Apple Edition: DAVE.LYONS | P.O. Box 875 America Online: Dave Lyons | Cupertino, CA 95015-0875 GEnie: D.LYONS2 or DAVE.LYONS CompuServe: 72177,3233 Internet/BITNET: dlyons@apple.com UUCP: ...!ames!apple!dlyons My opinions are my own, not Apple's.
dhom@riglow.acs.calpoly.edu (David Hom) (12/01/89)
I just bought a Powerdrive from Hard Drives International. It's
a Seagate ST-277N-1 (28ms model). The drive formatted to 62 Megs
and is fast. (Given a Transwarp GS, System 5.0.2, disktimer resulted
in readings of 46/88/51 at a 3:1 interleave) Only drawback, say versus
an Ehman, is that it's LOUD, kinda like a squadron of F-15's. But that
is solved with a SCSI extender cable and a remote power switch.
Powerdrive 60 ----- $539 ST-277N
Powerdrive 80 ----- $588 ST-296N (much better deal $$/megabyte,
but I have my SCSI in slot 7
and didn't want to move it to
slot 5 so I could use more than
two partitions per slot)
One month no-hassle guarantee (includes disk upgrades), and
one year warranty on drives.
This is the second drive I bought from them and I am quite pleased. When
my first one blew-up, I sent it back and got one back within three days!
I am not any way affiliated with or in the employ of Hard Drive I'ntl, just
a happy customer. See their ad in MacWorld and Computer Shopper.
HDI ----> 800-234-DISK
Dave
dhom@cosmos.acs.calpoly.eduirie2@husc2.HARVARD.EDU (The Irie One) (12/02/89)
Hi. This is my first time at posting an article on a newsgroup, so please bear with me. I am thinking of getting a hard drive, and was very interested in the report of the Powerdrive from Hard Drives International. One question, though: I am not all that familiar with hard drives, so can someone please tell me why you have to have the SCSI card in slot 5 to be able to access more than two partitions? Is this true for any operating system? (Prodos 8,16 GS/OS) Any help in these matters will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Robert Irie irie2@husc2.harvard.edu ***************************** *Sorry, no fancy end message* *****************************
rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com (Russel Michel) (12/04/89)
In response to a few recent messages about SCSI drives... >I just bought a Powerdrive from Hard Drives International. It's a Seagate >ST-277N-1 (28ms model). The drive formatted to 62 Megs and is fast. (Given a >Transwarp GS, System 5.0.2, disktimer resulted in readings of 46/88/51 at a >3:1 interleave) I have two Seagate hard drives (a ST-138N & a ST-296N) in a homebrew setup, and found that 11:1 interleave gave the best results with DiskTimer GS on both drives (I used SCSI.Hacker to low-level format them). How many different interleaves did you try? I was able to obtain Read test times comparable to yours, and Seek test results in the 55-58 range. Also, TWGS speed had no effect on DiskTimer results; perhaps this is due to the timing routines used by that program. >... but I have my SCSI in slot 7 and didn't want to move it to slot 5 so I >could use more than two partitions per slot) >... so can someone please tell me why you have to have the SCSI card in slot 5 >to be able to access more than two partitions? Is this true for any operating >system? (Prodos 8,16 GS/OS) Installation of a SCSI card in slot 7 does not limit one to 2 partitions. Limitation of # of partitions is primarily a factor of the operating system in use; ie. ProDos 8 & ProDOS 16 limit you to 2 partitions; GSOS allows up to seven partitions in a given slot. (I may be incorrect on that last part about GSOS; Advanced Disk Utilities may be the actual limiting factor) Use Advanced Disk Utilities to set more than 2 partitions AFTER using SCSIHD Partition to initially high-level format the drive, and then you can set your drive up as you please. UUCP: crash!pro-grouch!rmichel ARPA: crash!pro-grouch!rmichel@nosc.mil INET: rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com
llp@psuhcx.psu.edu (Laura L. Pauley) (12/04/89)
In article <3311@husc6.harvard.edu> irie2@husc2.UUCP (The Irie One) writes: |I am thinking of getting a hard drive, and was very interested in the report of |the Powerdrive from Hard Drives International. One question, though: I am not |all that familiar with hard drives, so can someone please tell me why you have |to have the SCSI card in slot 5 to be able to access more than two partitions? |Is this true for any operating system? (Prodos 8,16 GS/OS) Well that is due to the restriction of prodos 8&16. I am not sure how gs/os works so I can't help you there. If you are doing this on a //e you can only use up to 40 megs (2 partitions of 20megs each, I think that you can vary them also...not sure though, i use 2 20's). There is an execption to that though. If you move the drive to a GS then you can format to 2 32meg partitions (only allowing 64 megs per SCSI card) If you put the SCSI controler in slot 5 you can partition the drive into 4 partitions of 15megs. That is all of the help that I have to offer. Now I have a question here.... Has anyone found out any way to trick prodos 8 to allow you to partition the entire 64megs yet? I have a problem when it comes to this because there are no Apple //gs users in this area that I know of (is there any in Penn State Main Campus?!?! :-) )
dhom@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu (David Hom) (12/04/89)
In article <0.apple.net@pro-grouch> rmichel@pro-grouch.cts.com (Russel Michel) writes: > I have two Seagate hard drives (a ST-138N & a ST-296N) in a homebrew setup, >and found that 11:1 interleave gave the best results with DiskTimer GS on both >drives (I used SCSI.Hacker to low-level format them). How many different >interleaves did you try? I was able to obtain Read test times comparable to >yours, and Seek test results in the 55-58 range. I think I stopped at 10:1 because the reads were getting consistantly longer. > Installation of a SCSI card in slot 7 does not limit one to 2 partitions. >Limitation of # of partitions is primarily a factor of the operating system in >use; ie. ProDos 8 & ProDOS 16 limit you to 2 partitions; GSOS allows up to >seven partitions in a given slot. (I may be incorrect on that last part about >GSOS; Advanced Disk Utilities may be the actual limiting factor) > And you can actually ACCESS more than two PRODOS partitions out of slot seven? Yes, the two partition limit is a ProDOS limitation, but since we're using the ProDOS FST, we have that limitation. If you can access more than two ProDOS partitions out of slot seven, let me know, I can upgrade my 60Meg to an 80 :) Dave dhom@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu
dlyons@Apple.COM (David A. Lyons) (12/07/89)
In article <1989Dec4.153836.13099@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> dhom@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu.UUCP (David Hom) writes: [...] >And you can actually ACCESS more than two PRODOS partitions out of slot seven? >Yes, the two partition limit is a ProDOS limitation, but since we're using the >ProDOS FST, we have that limitation. If you can access more than two ProDOS >partitions out of slot seven, let me know, I can upgrade my 60Meg to an 80 :) A two-partition-per-slot limitation is a *ProDOS 8* limitation, *not* a limitation of the ProDOS file system; I have a hard drive in slot 1 with 3 ProDOS partitions on it (and it would work just as well in slot 7 if I had it there). Under GS/OS I can use all 3 partitions, but ProDOS 8 only sees the first 2. (An actual limit of the ProDOS file system is a maximum volume size of 32 Megs.) -- --David A. Lyons, Apple Computer, Inc. | DAL Systems Apple II Developer Technical Support | P.O. Box 875 America Online: Dave Lyons | Cupertino, CA 95015-0875 GEnie: D.LYONS2 or DAVE.LYONS CompuServe: 72177,3233 Internet/BITNET: dlyons@apple.com UUCP: ...!ames!apple!dlyons My opinions are my own, not Apple's.